HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — A 41-year-old Cass County man was arrested and placed in the Cass County Jail Thursday after police say he admitted to drinking a few beers and then allowed his 9-year-old stepson to drive the vehicle, while he sat in the passenger seat.
The organization known as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is outraged by this case.
It’s not unusual in rural areas for kids to get behind the wheel at an early age. But a 9-year-old designated driver? A veteran police officer told FOX 4 News that’s outrageous.
According to Harrisonville Police, Gary Wayne Chaney Junior, 41, was in the passenger seat of a vehicle that police pulled over about 7 p.m. Wednesday night near 7 Highway and US Highway 71. An officer noted several violations before stopping the vehicle, including failure to use turn signals and no working tail-light.
Officers were surprised to find Chaney’s 9-year-old stepson at the wheel. Police said Chaney admitted to having a few beers and that’s why his stepson was driving.
The group MADD is angered due to the fact that because Chaney wasn’t the vehicle operator, he won’t face charges of Driving While Intoxicated.
“He used this child, where he should not have,” said Avis Lowe, of MADD. “And the child, if he was drinking like that, shouldn’t have been with him in the first place. But he put that child and himself in danger and the others around him.”
Police FOX 4 News that Chaney is being held in the Cass County jail on traffic charges and endangering the welfare of a child. But he will not face a drunken driving charge.
Police said Chaney’s vehicle was not seized and the child is in the custody of other family members.
No one came to the door of Chaney’s home in rural Harrisonville when FOX 4 News sought comment there.